Tuesday, August 10, 2004

What is wrong with Jason Giambi? The Yankee first baseman came to spring training carrying far less weight and mass than usual. It was whispered that he was a user of performance enhancing drugs and his reduced size resulted from his no longer using them. Then he goes on the disabled list with an intestinal parasite. It was assumed that he ate something bad in Japan as teammate Kevin Brown also had a parasite. But then, after the antibiotics failed to help, he announced that he has a benign tumor but instead of operating on it, it would be treated with medications. His return to the team is questionable. Although Yankee brass are optimistic that Giambi will return by next month, his friend Eric Chavez said in an interview that after speaking with Giambi, he doubted he’d be back this year at all. So what exactly is wrong with him? When the Yankee G.M. was asked if he knew where the tumor was, he said that he did but that he would not disclose it to the public, in keeping with Giambi’s privacy rights. I completely respect their desire to keep Giambi’s ailment private but the mystery just raises some anxious questions. The Yankees didn’t hesitate to announce David Cone’s aneurysm, Joe Torre’s prostate cancer or Darryl Strawberry’s colon cancer. So, what is wrong with Jason Giambi?